


The World, A Stage

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: Scraps [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon - Manga, Community: springkink, F/M, POV Female Character, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-02
Updated: 2012-07-02
Packaged: 2017-11-09 00:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/449092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary:  She wears many masks.  <br/>Disclaimer:  Arakawa absolutely owns all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The World, A Stage

She wears a mask. Its lacquered face hides her own, obscures her emotions, makes her featureless in front of her enemies. And there is no doubt she has many. Her face is hidden as she is the guard of Yao Ling, one of the many heirs to the throne of the emperor of Xing. She has no doubt he will soon be the only heir, as he is doing what the others could not – return to Xing with proof of his own immortality. It isn’t up to her to wonder that such a thing cannot be transferred from her prince to the emperor – because the blond alchemist and his brother, accompanying them back to Xing, say that it can’t be done. 

“That… _Father_ is dead. Or whatever amounts to being dead for that kind of thing.” Edward Elric, puzzled. Ran Fan thinks that she could praise the pantheon for being able to witness such a sight. He shoots a look at her prince, that too-expressive face curious. “By all rights, Greed should be gone.” 

“But he isn’t,” Edward’s brother, Alphonse, pipes up from where he sits behind his brother on the horse. Too weak to ride by himself, by rights, he should be caravanned, but Alphonse Elric is as stubborn as his brother and swears he can ride. Ran Fan is surprised that the boy has lasted this long, as delicate as he appears. Maybe Mei’s healing alchemy has something to do with that, as the girl and her miniature panda stay as close as they can get to Alphonse without living in his skin. 

“Yeah. That bothers me.” And Edward falls silent again, making faces at the heat roasting the metal limbs of his body. 

The pair of alchemists travel with her prince, her grandfather and herself, making the way across the desert, through the Xerxes ruins and toward Xing. Ran Fan doesn’t know if this is considered their punishment for helping overthrow their government or if it is a reward. They seem cautiously happy and yet, the elder brother glances to the east and, Ran Fan guesses, the mechanic girl he’d left behind. 

Her own gaze is not so fixed. She is a guard, a warrior, sworn to lay down her life if need be for her master. Her resolve has been tested sorely – Ran Fan flexes her metal digits, thinking that the alchemist is correct – his mechanic is a far craftier person than the man who originally created her automail and she appreciates the skill in her newest limb. Still, her focus doesn’t waver. She watches her prince, not entirely surreptitiously, sometimes catching Alphonse’s eyes on her, a sweet smile on his face. He is young enough to believe in fairy tales and princes marrying serving girls. Mei too, believes, evident in the way she stares at the younger alchemist, as if her emperor father, Ling’s father, wouldn’t marry her off in an instant to a Xing courtier. Edward isn’t oblivious to Mei’s glances at his brother, which makes his own face spasm in irritation. If she were the type to taunt, Ran Fan would. Instead, she hides her laughter behind her mask. 

She must take her amusement where she finds it. In Xing, she must school her thoughts and her actions. It is her duty as her prince’s guard, though she knows how difficult it would be for anyone to attempt to kill him now. 

The day of their arrival is the beginning of fall, with cooler weather and the sound of temple bells ringing an announcement. Xing is as Ran Fan remembered it, thinking that the _chi_ of home feels like a spring breeze after a harsh winter. Mei’s expression lightens but Ling’s brow draws into a frown. Ran Fan wonders if the monster inside of her prince’s body dislikes the difference of their homeland from that of Amestris. She’s not sure, at this instant, who is in control. Her prince fights his way to the surface often enough but the monster is strong, wanting to remain in control of the body. Wanting to remain in control of everything. 

It is a mask her prince must wear and Ran Fan has been part and parcel to those long arguments between her grandfather, the two alchemists, Ling and the monster. The monster is not satisfied with just the land of Xing; it wants more. Ling believes he can control it and Ran Fan must hide her worries that he will lose that battle. The Yao clan cannot be allowed to lose the battle for the Emperor’s throne, lest everything Ling has ever fought for be destroyed along with him. The monster wants the world – aptly has it been named – and if it must kill Ran Fan’s prince to get what it wants, it will. 

But Ran Fan has learned there are ways to distract it from its worldly desires by appealing to baser ones. The monster is not unhappy with her attentions, though it makes her skin crawl to touch her prince’s body when it is in control. Still, its greed for attention of all sorts gives her a small manner of power over it. She hates that the monster can make her feel as good as it does when it kisses her neck, strokes her breasts, buries itself between her legs. 

This is the final mask she must wear – a contented expression afterward, winding the monster in loving limbs, knowing that it will only be sated for a little while, while she cries her tears inside, where no one can see.


End file.
